Slashdot Mirror
Apple Admits iPod Is From 1970s UK
MattSparkes writes "Apple has all but admitted that a British man invented the iPod over three decades ago in the 1970s. Unfortunately, he let the patent run out. When another company tried to grab a portion of its iPod profits, though, Apple went running to him to defend them in court. In return, it looks like he's in for a share of the cash generated from the sale of 163 million iPods."
Now we just need the news to break that this man was once employed by The Beatles' label and you will hear the sound of a thousand lawyers climaxing at once.
So - let me get this straight, he invented the "iPod" before stored music was even available? Before any substantial file compression existed? Right.. I actually, ummm, invented televisions back during the Taft administration.
on something called a "transistor". Apparently Apple hovered in the wings waiting for the patent on this technology to expire so they could steal it.
Who is this Taco fellow and why can't he read for comprehension?
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
"Apple was unavailable for comment at the time of writing."
What, the entire company?
Proverbs 21:19
the iPod wasn't exactly the first mp3 player to be released anyway, just the first successful one in marketing and generating hype
There, fixed that for you.
There, fixed that for you.
Thank God for evolution.
Wow! You were college friends with Bill Gates?
A very bad summary indeed, and a quite bad article to start with.
You sir, have summed up Slashdot quite well in one sentence.
Not even the first successful mp3 player; Linux Journal had one on the cover (IIRC) a couple of years before the first iPod was launched.
I hear the drivers are almost ready!
Apple's was the first (and only, so far) to become a cultural phenomenon
What about the Zune!? Oh, wait...
Star Trek invented the flip phone in the '60s, too. Not to mention the stun gun, the replicator, matter transport, and FTL. :-)
How dare you take the hype and charm out of a Apple article by stating facts.
If I had a goatee and a latte, I'd be using Safari to mod you as a troll with my only mouse button.
which wasn't the "first" by any measure
Yes, because for those who remember, there was also this doohickey called a Creative Nomad. It happened to have more space and be much less lame than an iPod at the time.
My Ipod is made entirely of gas. It plays one song called "fart."
A very bad summary indeed, and a quite bad article to start with.
You sir, have summed up Slashdot quite well in one sentence.
But you forgot to mention all of the off-topic comments that are inevitably modded "+5 Funny".
What were we talking about again?
In theory, theory always works in practice. In practice, theory rarely works. <><